Collection Spotlight

The Museum presents a regularly changing display of documents and objects from the Bank's rich and
diverse archival collection. These ‘collection spotlight’ displays present items that have rarely been
seen before by the public and give deeper historical context to the banknotes with which Australians are
already so familiar. A selection of our past collection spotlight displays are presented below.

Aviation

One of the defining characteristics of Australia's geography is the vast distances that separate its
population centres. Therefore, Australia has a unique reliance upon aviation. Australia embraced the
benefits of aviation earlier than many other nations, and it has produced many pioneering aviators
and accomplished innovators in aeronautical technology. The importance of aviation to Australia has
been reflected in several previous banknotes. The Museum has prepared a display on the theme of
pioneers and innovators in aviation. The display presents early design proposals for Australian
banknotes that feature the boomerang – one of the earliest aerofoils made by humans.

The £5 banknote in the 1953/54 series showed a boomerang among other objects associated with
Aboriginal culture and an arrangement of subjects representing agricultural enterprise in Australia. This was
the first time Indigenous culture had been introduced into the design of Australia's banknotes.

The £5 banknote issued from 1953 was the first to include Indigenous elements (the boomerang and
shield in the centre) in the design of Australian currency. Reserve Bank of Australia Archvies,
NP-003808.

As Australia prepared to convert its currency to the decimal system in the early 1960s, designs were
developed for a new series of banknotes. A number of early designs for the ‘Royal’ (as the currency
was originally called) included the boomerang as a central design element.

As the design process advanced, Australian accomplishments in aviation emerged as the central theme
of Australia's first series of $20 banknotes. Preliminary designs from 1964 (shown below), portray
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith wearing his flying cap and goggles on the front side. On the reverse
side, a nurse of the Royal Flying Doctor Service is at work in front of an ambulance. The first RFDS
aircraft Victory stands on an outback runway in the background.

Although these proposals by George Hamori were not developed into the final form of the 1966 series
$20 banknote, the final design did celebrate the theme of Australian aviation by featuring Sir
Charles Kingsford Smith and Lawrence Hargrave. The story of the Royal Flying Doctor Service was to
be incorporated into the 1994 series $20 banknote.

Early design concept for the 1966 series $20 banknote prepared by George Hamori. Reserve Bank of
Australia Archives, NP-004199.

To learn more about the personalities behind the portraits on Australia's banknotes, see
Notable Australians.

Celebrating science

To mark National Science Week 2018, the Museum presented a selection of archival materials relating to
the Bank and science in Australia. Several Australian banknotes have celebrated the contributions of
Australian scientists and the role of science and innovation in Australia's society, culture and
economy.

The Bank's inaugural Governor, Dr H C Coombs took a keen interest in the development of science in
Australia, and highly valued the work of those engaged in it. In a speech to the Australian Academy
of Sciences in 1964, he described science as “natural human curiosity highly organised”, and spoke
of the need to regard scientific endeavour as a creative pursuit, comparing Australia's great
scientists to its great artists, writers and musicians. In making this comparison, Coombs put the
view that the accomplishments of science should not be measured purely in terms of its contribution
to increased production –

Science is one of the highest forms of creative activity…There is something exciting and worthwhile in
itself about the pursuit of knowledge. Let us continue to take simple pleasure and delight that our
society produces men capable of this kind of achievement and that we have sufficient wisdom and
resources to give them their opportunity.

The 1973 $50 banknote showed pathologist Lord Howard Florey (1898-1968) whose role in the culturing
of penicillin was recognised with the Nobel Prize in 1945. The background showed Penicillin notatum,
white blood cells, a culture plate, laboratory mice, colonies of bacteria and chemical bottles. From
1960 to 1965, Florey was the President of the Royal Society, a position once held by Sir Isaac
Newton. Florey's association with Queens College, Oxford University was represented by the window of
its library and books from its shelves.

The reverse side of the banknote celebrated scientific research into biology, the environment and
outer space. Veterinary scientist Ian Clunies Ross (1899-1959) was shown in recognition of his
contribution to Australia's scientific boom through his chairmanship of the CSIRO and his abilities
as an effective science communicator. The 1973 $50 banknote depicted transistors within computer
circuitry – which was still a nascent technology at that time. A pencil drawing of this computer
circuitry that was used in the design of the banknote was shown.

The 1984 $100 banknote celebrated the achievements of geologist, physicist and explorer Sir Douglas
Mawson (1892-1958), as well as the astronomer John Tebbutt (1834-1916). An early design concept for
the banknote was displayed, which showed Mawson and his ship Aurora in a polar landscape. The final
design for the banknote shows Mawson in his polar expedition gear. His interest in geology is
represented by the Flinders Ranges behind him showing its rock layers, and his interest in astronomy
and physics are represented by the Aurora Australis in the sky above him. Source material used in
the design process for this banknote was also displayed.

An early iteration of the design for the 1984 series $100 banknote. Reserve Bank of Australia Archives, NP-002954.

Early design iterations of the banknote showed the astronomer John Tebbutt with a telescope and
several constellations. Orbital paths were shown, representing his research into the orbits of
comets, planets, and their satellites.

John Tebbutt (1834–1916) began to make astronomical observations from a modest, wooden observatory
that he built on his family property in Windsor, New South Wales. It was followed by the
construction of a more substantial observatory, which is represented on the banknote to the right of
his portrait, with the earlier observatory to the left.

In his Astronomical Memoirs, Tebbutt recalled his first major observation. He detected ‘on the
evening of May 13, 1861, while searching the western sky for comets … a faint nebulous object near
the star Lacaille 1316 in the constellation Eridanus’. His observations were published in The Sydney
Morning Herald and The Empire, which believed that his findings ‘may well excite a feeling of pride
and gratification in all who claim Australia as their native or adopted country’. Tebbutt had become
the first astronomer to discover the Great Comet of 1861, which was later named after him.

Although he was offered the position of government astronomer for New South Wales, Tebbutt continued
to work privately, and published some 400 papers during his career. In 1973 a crater near the moon's
Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises) was named in his honour.

Early design concept for the 1984 series $100 banknote featuring John Tebbutt. Reserve Bank of
Australia archives, NP-002932.

The 1995 $50 banknote depicted writer and inventor David Unaipon (1872–1967), who demonstrated a
keen interest in science throughout his life. He determinedly studied the prospect of a perpetual
motion machine and the then theoretical concept of laser light. He lodged 19 patents throughout his
lifetime. His design for sheep sheers appeared on the 1995 $50 banknote. In the 1910s, he proposed
applying the aeronautical principles behind the boomerang to the design of a helicopter – an
invention that was not to be realised until 1936.

Two booklets were produced in connection with the display. One details biographical information
relating to each of the figures from science in Australia's banknotes.
Another acts as a key to the many scientific subjects shown on the 1973 $50 banknote.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors should be aware that this Museum website may contain
images or
names of deceased people.
While we make every reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy of information, some of the content on this
site may contain inconsistencies or errors regarding dates, as recorded by different agencies or
individuals.